Wow what a week, what a month, oh come on let's face it ... what a year 😉.
It has been 6 months since we last met. At that meeting we were not hugging as we usually do, as a new and strange virus had emerged around us ... coronavirus! We had no idea back then that we would be still apart 6 months later putting many of our plans on hold. But that is ok, because during this time while we have not been able to deliver to the hospitals we have indeed been keeping busy.
It was Sunday October 13th last year that we met as a group at The Jungle Restaurant for the first time. There was a small core group of about 12 ladies that had come together in the weeks before and learned how to loom beanies so they could teach others, create a movement, and get beanies on babies in the NICU's across Muscat.
I would like to say a huge thank you to our founding members for taking a leap of faith and laughing a lot at our mistakes on the way. Let's not forget the beanie that looked like an egg warmer 😂. A HUGE THANK YOU to Nalini, Ratna, Sevastianna, Jane, Sharon, Alia, Tace, Shirley, Teresa, Bushra and Panagiota for believing that this could work. And then we quickly had others join and create a wonderful group of very "happy hookers".
We have had many sub groups meet up outside of the monthly meetings in MQ, Villa 29, TAISM, Al Anasab, PDO, PDO School, OND, and Al Mouj all producing wonderful beanies for the bubs. Many thanks to the co-ordinators of these groups. And a special thanks to Nalini and Ratna who wash, dry, pack and store all of the YKAM items.
Our first delivery was in November 2019 to Khoula and Royal Hospitals and then in February we welcomed SQU and Royal Armed Forces Hospitals to the YKAM family. We had scheduled a trip to Sur hospital the week that Muscat was hit with restrictions so we look forward to that in the future.
The movement was strong, the volunteers keen, the hooks ready and the support increasing (a particular big thank you to WGO for their large donation of yarn) so while we were in "lockdown" with kids and hubbies home many found their Happy Place lost in their yarning (knitting, crochet and looming). Some ladies moved on from beanies to increase their skills with knitting and crochet to produce crib blankets. It has been AMAZING and let me tell you what we have washed and stored and ready for delivery over the coming year ....
BEANIES
XSmall - 50
Small - 295
Medium - 2720
Medium Plus - 852
Large - 277
L Velvet - 84
XL Velvet - 13
New Born - 197
Child - 38
Adult - 4
That is a whopping total of 4, 530!!!
CRIB BLANKETS - 336
INCUBATOR BLANKETS - 26
National Day Beanies 6 / National Day Blankets 6 (Red/White/Green)
BABY NICU BOOTIES - 22 pair
THANK YOU!!! What an amazing effort.
As you can see from the numbers above we are well stocked for loomed beanies for the NICU at this stage.
We would like to encourage volunteers to move from small loomed beanies (24 peg) to Adult Beanies (41 peg) , Child Beanies (36 peg) and Baby Booties (12 peg). We will highlight these over the coming months and aim to have videos to support your learning. We also would love to encourage you to learn some basic crochet skills to help with blankets.
Also on the horizon are some comfort dolls that can be made on the loom too.
October 10 was World Mental Health Day and one of the reasons YAKM was created was to provide a welcoming and safe space for those who are feeling a little down, lost, blue or just in need of some lovely company. The pandemic has for some increased this sense of loss, unease and we are very keen to get to a point where we can meet again safely every month and just for those few hours leave any worries at the door. Laughter and love is truly a great panacea.
So HAPPY BIRTHDAY YKAM lovelies, I do miss seeing you all so much and I am incredibly grateful for all the work you continue to do.
Thanks for stopping by ...
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